Personal profile
Research overview
Polymer optoelectronics.
Most polymers, or plastics, are electrical insulators. However there is one class of polymers, known as 'conjugated' polymers which can conduct electricity. These materials are semiconductors, and open new directions in optoelectronics. They combine novel semiconducting electronic properties with the processing flexibility of polymers. When a voltage is applied to them, they emit light, providing an important new display technology that could give flat and even flexible displays. Semiconducting polymers can be used to make field effect transistors, solar cells, and even lasers. In the polymer optoelectronics group we seek to understand the physics of these remarkable materials and devices, with the aim of improving them. The research has both fundamental and applied aspects, and the main activities are: - optical amplifiers - wavelength scale microstructure - new materials - charge transport in LEDs - understanding the light emission process
I am also researching fluorescence and its applications in medicine and biology.
For further information, see the Organic Semiconductor Centre and the Polymer Optoelectronics group website.
Industrial relevance
field effect transistors; solar cells; lasers; broad-band optical amplifers; fluorescence measurements
Academic/Professional Qualification
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 2 Zero Hunger -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 14 Life Below Water
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Absolute calibration for cyclic voltammetry from the solution-phase ionisation of ferrocene
Baikie, T. K., Harwell, J. R., Baikie, I. D., Zysman-Colman, E., Samuel, I. D. W. & Turnbull, G. A., 20 Jan 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: ACS Electrochemistry. ASAP, 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Analysis and control of untemplated DNA polymerase activity for guided synthesis of kilobase-scale DNA sequences
Castle, S. D., Irvine, T. C. T., Woolfson, A., Linshiz, G., Riley, B. T., Samuel, I. D. W., Picco, L., Holliger, P., Oldfield, L. M., Hessel, A. & Gorochowski, T. E., 26 Feb 2026, In: Nature Communications. 17, p. 1-18 18 p., 3251.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
A trade-off between efficiency and stability in a class of sky-blue organic light-emitting diodes
Tankelevičiūtė, E., Jenatsch, S., Ruhstaller, B., Zysman-Colman, E. & Samuel, I. D. W., 30 Jan 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: FlexMat. Early View, 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Novel optical measurement technique for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy using Scattered Light Integrating Collector (SLIC)
Leite De Avellar, M., Hafeez, H., Hammond, R. & Samuel, I. D. W., 14 Jan 2026, In: Scientific Reports. 16, p. 1-8 8 p., 4040.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Optical sensor for seizure detection
Campbell, I. A., McDermott, J. A., Turnbull, G. A. & Samuel, I. D. W., 5 Mar 2026, Biophotonics in exercise science, sports medicine, health monitoring technologies, and wearables VII. Shadgan, B. & Gandjbakhche, A. H. (eds.). Bellingham, WA: SPIE, 6 p. 138450A. (Proceedings of SPIE; vol. 13845).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Open AccessFile
Datasets
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From sun to screen: time-resolved spectroscopy of organic solar cells and hyperfluorescent OLEDs (thesis data)
Sayner, T. (Creator) & Samuel, I. (Supervisor), University of St Andrews, 27 Mar 2027
DOI: 10.17630/becc6e97-6f8a-44d8-ace4-41f9f10513bb
Dataset: Thesis dataset
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Optically trapped room temperature polariton condensate in an organic semiconductor (dataset)
Wei, M. (Creator), Verstraelen, W. (Creator), Orfanakis, K. (Creator), Ruseckas, A. (Creator), Liew, T. (Creator), Samuel, I. D. W. (Creator), Turnbull, G. (Creator) & Ohadi, H. (Creator), University of St Andrews, 22 Nov 2022
DOI: 10.17630/46b1551a-f39c-47cf-b16d-44d84350bea4
Dataset
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Room Temperature Polariton Lasing in Ladder-type Oligo(p-phenylene)s with Different π-conjugation Lengths (dataset)
Wei, M. (Creator), Rajendran, S. K. (Creator), Fang, M. (Creator), Lai, W.-Y. (Creator), Turnbull, G. (Creator) & Samuel, I. D. W. (Creator), University of St Andrews, 13 Jan 2021
DOI: 10.17630/7bd2b281-2ae9-4de8-a091-4f409cbe7cb1
Dataset
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Measurements and Modelling of the Kinetics of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (thesis data)
Diesing, S. (Creator), Samuel, I. D. W. (Supervisor) & Zysman-Colman, E. (Supervisor), University of St Andrews, 9 Oct 2024
DOI: 10.17630/5a006c14-47f8-4309-81ab-ddc2fd25191f, https://doi.org/10.17630/sta/635
Dataset: Thesis dataset
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Hole delocalization as a driving force for charge pair dissociation in organic photovoltaics (dataset)
Ruseckas, A. (Creator), Matheson, A. B. (Creator), Pearson, S. J. (Creator) & Samuel, I. D. W. (Creator), University of St Andrews, 27 Feb 2019
DOI: 10.17630/ca6397c2-16f4-4329-a1e5-5cd7832f68ce, https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2019/MH/C8MH01204K
Dataset
File
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Organic Optoelectronic Neural Networks: Organic Optoelectronic Neural Networks
Samuel, I. (PI)
1/03/24 → 28/02/27
Project: Standard
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Self-illuminating Holograms: Self-illuminating Holograms for Human-Computer Interaction
Samuel, I. (PI), Di Falco, A. (CoI) & Turnbull, G. (CoI)
1/03/23 → 28/02/25
Project: Standard
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MR TADF: Multi-resonance TADF materials for highly efficient and stable OLEDs
Samuel, I. (PI)
1/07/22 → 30/06/25
Project: Standard
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Novel Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosit: Novel Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity for use as photonic materials
Samuel, I. (PI) & Turnbull, G. (CoI)
1/01/22 → 30/09/24
Project: Standard
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A Frugal Engineering Approach to Laser Treatment for the Prevention of Blindness
Samuel, I. (PI), Blaikie, A. (CoI), Kousha, O. (CoI) & Williams, W. (CoI)
STAIRS - St Andrews Interdisciplinary Research Support
1/08/21 → 31/07/22
Project: Standard
Activities
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Member of the international scientific advisory board for the SPIE annual meeting
Samuel, I. D. W. (Organiser)
2005 → …Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a conference
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Peer review of articles - multiple journals (Journal)
Samuel, I. D. W. (Editor)
2005 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editor of research journal
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Invited to organise symposium on novel light sources and displays at Institute of Physics Congress
Samuel, I. D. W. (Organiser)
2005 → …Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a conference
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Nature (Journal)
Samuel, I. D. W. (Editor)
2005 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editor of research journal
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European Science Foundation (External organisation)
Samuel, I. D. W. (Participant)
2005 → …Activity: Membership types › Membership of research network
Prizes
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Fellow of the Institute of Physics,
Samuel, I. D. W. (Recipient), 2003
Prize: Election to learned society
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Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
Samuel, I. D. W. (Recipient), 2003
Prize: Election to learned society
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Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of St Andrews
Samuel, I. D. W. (Recipient), 2004
Prize: Appointment
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Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of St Andrews
Samuel, I. D. W. (Recipient), 2000
Prize: Appointment
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SID 02 Best Student Paper Awards (with J. P. J. Markham, T. Anthopoulos and S. W. Magennis), Society for Information Display, Highly Efficient Solution-Processible Dendrimer LEDs
Samuel, I. D. W. (Recipient), 2002
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Impacts
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A Wearable Light Source for Ambulatory Treatment of Skin Cancer and Acne (REF2014)
Samuel, I. (Participant)
Impact: Health and Welfare Impact